While experts highlight the health effects and economic costs of air pollution, the European Commission is planning to amend the air quality proposal which is likely to have significant benefits for health right across Europe. In considering modifications to the EU clean air package, the European Commission has an opportunity to promote prevention and to consider people’s health.
Parliament Hearing to present scientific evidence on EU air quality policy
At the public hearing (...)

17 December 2014, Amsterdam - Multi-sectoral NGO coalition calls for greater protections for consumers, journalists, whistleblowers, researchers and workers.
We strongly oppose the hasty push by the European Commission and Council for a new European Union (EU) directive on trade secrets because it contains:
An unreasonably broad definition of ’trade secrets’ that enables almost anything within a company to be deemed as such;
Overly-broad protection for companies, that could (...)

Brussels, 18 November 2014 - Today, public health, patients’, and medical organisations sent a letter to EU Commission President Juncker expressing their dismay at any consideration to withdraw the EU Clean Air Policy Package, as presented by EU Environment and Health Commissioners Potocnik and Borg in December 2013.
The letter calls on President Juncker to keep the proposal and work with the European Parliament and Council to ensure a swift and ambitious adoption.
You can download (...)

Brussels, 26th September 2014 - On the occasion of World Environmental Health Day, EPHA highlighted the vital importance of water for public health. Having access to adequate sanitation facilities and sufficient amounts of safe water for drinking and hygiene is essential for human health. As a response to the ‘right to water’ campaign, the Commission has launched an EU-wide public consultation on the Drinking Water Directive, notably in view of improving access to quality (...)

"One day the poor in Hungary will have nothing left to eat but the rich." Over a million Hungarians live below the poverty line. As inequalities are on the rise in Hungary, a mock fast food restaurant HUNGER KING® opened its doors in the Hungarian capital, Budapest for 3 weeks, as a protest against the anti-­homeless acts of the Hungarian government. Another worrying trend since the Hungarian government’s re-election, has been the launch of a campaign attacking the credibility of (...)

Brussels, 5th June 2014 - On the occasion of World Environment Day, EPHA puts the spotlights on the "Know your air for health" website, recently launched by the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) and the European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients Organisations (EFA). It addresses air pollution as a major public health concern. Consequences of air pollution range from immediate effects, such as coughing and wheezing, to triggering and aggravating respiratory diseases, (...)

Against the background of the meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council (AGRIFISH) on 10 April, where European Agriculture Ministers aligned with the European Parliament and the European Commission’s proposed CAP Delegated Acts, 11 European food and farming NGOs (including EPHA) sent an open letter to the Greek Presidency and the European Commission calling on the EU and national leaders to ensure that the CAP delegated acts and implementation of new rural development (...)

Brussels 26 March 2014 - The European Commission responded to the first successful European Citizens Initiative with a Communication on March 19th. With less than 60 days to go before the European elections, the Citizens’ Committee has approached all candidates to the European Commission Presidency to ask for a commitment to implement the Human Right to Water and Sanitation in the next legislature. The ECI organisers were critical of the Commission’s response as it lacked clear (...)

19 March 2014, Brussels - The European Commission (EC) published a Communication today that gives its official response to the first successful European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) which called on the EC “to implement the human right to water and sanitation in European law.” In the Communication, the European Commission does recall the importance of the human right to water and sanitation and states the importance of water as a public good and fundamental value and that (...)

Three years after the Regulation establishing the European citizens’ initiative (ECI) , the "Right2water" initiative was presented on 17 February at a public hearing in the European Parliament. There was a cross-party agreement on the merits of such a positive active movement coming from citizens and so clearly expressing participatory democracy. It is now up to the Commission to come up with a concrete legislative proposal by 20 March 2014.
After having received 1,680,172 valid (...)

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